Enriching Experiences : How I struck linguistic Gold

Posted in: Gold Community, International Experience, Opportunity Fund

View of an ornate, white stone building across a market square.

Why did I decide to undertake this opportunity?

I had the immense privilege of attending an Italian language course in Lucca, Tuscany this summer as part of the Gold Opportunity Fund. There were many considerations as to why I wanted to undertake this opportunity. My postgraduation goal is to work and live in Italy in a business environment, so although I can speak Italian in a conversational manner (thanks to my Italian grandmother - a.k.a Nonna) my vocabulary and tone were not suited to a professional environment. I am glad to say now, I am competent in business Italian and have a deeper understanding of Italian culture. I also have a familial interest in Italy. My learning of the language has allowed me to connect with my family members in the  Castelli-Puccini lineage.

 

Details about the experience:

My course was a weeklong tutored experience, but I was fortunate enough to be able to stay in Italy for 2 weeks total - staying with a long-lost family member for a week after my course. It was amazing waking up early every day, before my tutoring started, and exploring the fascinatingly historic walled city of Lucca. I found many hidden gems such as 'wine windows' whereby you can pay a hole in the wall and out comes a glass of wine - truly Italian. I particularly enjoyed renting a bike and cycling the circumference of the walls of the city! The food was amazing and cheap - I usually had a couple of slices of pizza for lunch which cost me less than 5 euros.

On to the learning, I had 3 group lessons a day with people from all over the world. One of the underrated and unexpected benefits was the connection and global friendships I forged with my fellow students. We followed a semi-guided lesson plan but were able to forge our own specific language areas to explore. We did group games and activities to enhance each other's learning and develop business conversational skills.

I was initially ambivalent before starting - with a mix of apprehension and excitement. But soon after my arrival at the first lesson excitement quickly consumed all apprehension. My homestay - where I lived with a local Italian family - was a truly amazing experience. It was equally as beneficial as my lessons. I spoke Italian with them regularly, learned about culture, and developed an Italian sense of humour - which was surprisingly similar to English humour. They also allowed me to join them for dinner on a few occasions - yum!

 

What did I learn/gain?

As I have outlined above, I had a fantastically enjoyable time whereby I learned much and developed many skills. Primely, my linguistic ability has vastly improved, and I am now confident in conversing professionally - success! Further to my linguistic skills, I have also made lifelong global friends, delved into the rich Italian culture (Michaelangelo, di Vinci, ancient Rome) and enhanced a sense of self-confidence and ability. Now if I were to be presented with a novel, challenging but potentially extremely beneficial opportunity - I wouldn't instantly think of reasons I shouldn't do it and all the things that could go wrong, but instead think; yes, I can and have done it and I will succeed. It's replacing apprehension with ambition; anxiety with excitement; and ultimately negativity with positivity.

View of a night sky through Italian columns.

 

I would encourage anyone and everyone to put themselves out there and try something new abroad. Even better if it's beneficial to your career plans as mine was.

If you are interested in a similar thing to what I did, please do get in contact with me at E: rc2409@bath.ac.uk.

If you take away one thing from this article, it would be don't underestimate the power of saying yes!

Posted in: Gold Community, International Experience, Opportunity Fund

Respond

  • (we won't publish this)

Write a response